Once Upon Akuma
by Krazy Ky-Sta Hatter
Summary: When a playwright becomes angry about a review that bashes everything in her entire play except the costumes, she is turned into the Akuma, Fairytale. In revenge, she goes after the costume designer, Marinette, and sucks her and Chat into a fairytale world. How on earth are they supposed to defeat the Akuma when both heroes are trapped living out stories in a book!
1. Once Upon a Time

_**Okay, so this is one I've had in the works for a while. Chapters 2 and 3 are almost ready to go even.  
It's taken me a while to write since my laptop is broken. I kind of wanted to come back with a big bang and release like... a new chapter for five different fics, but I thought it would be nice to post this one now.  
Originally my friend and I came up with this idea for a Doctor Who fic, but we kind of slowly dropped out of the fandom. We were talking about the plot, though, and found that it would work amazingly well, if not better with the ML universe.  
It's going to be quite a long one, but lots of fun. So, I hope you enjoy it!**_

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 **Once Upon a Time**

"Oh my god, Girl! Have you seen the review!" was the first thing Marinette heard the moment that she answered her phone, Alya's excited face lighting up the screen.

"Yeah, I'm just reading it now," she told her.

"Isn't it awesome!"

Marinette frowned uncertainly. "I don't know. So far it seems a little harsh. I thought it was a good story. And the actors did a really good job!"

"No, not that," Alya said, rolling her eyes. "The bit about the costumes! It says they were stunning! Girl, you're a hit!"

"Yeah, but the rest of the play got such a bad review. I kind of feel bad. Costumes aren't meant to make a play, only make it believable. They weren't meant to be the 'stand out' thing!" She chewed her lip anxiously. She felt pretty bad about the review, despite the praise it gave her. She could only imagine how the cast and Ellie felt.

"So, what are you complaining about? __You__ got a star review on your mad skills! There's some really good pictures of them as well. And to top it all off, you got paid for it!"

"Not very much. They didn't have much of a budget, so most of the price was just to cover the material."

"How much did you get after the supplies?" Alya asked her, her voice low like she was expecting an unsatisfactory answer.

"Fifteen euros..." she replied quietly, knowing that Alya wouldn't be happy about it.

"What?! Girl, no! You should have been given way more than that! You spent weeks making all those costumes!" she cried in outrage.

"I know, I know! But like I said, they had a pretty low budget, and the materials were pretty expensive. I didn't want to put them too much over budget... And now they're going to lose quite a bit. Apparently, people are already asking for refunds because of this review. If they lose half the audience, they're going to have to cancel tonight's show."

Alya groaned. "Girl, you are way too nice for your own good. You know you're going to have to be more pushy about how much you charge when you get big in the fashion world... which you totally will be one day, because you are awesome and they __love you__!"

"I know," she sighed. "...But... at least it got my work seen, right? Maybe it's like one of those... pro-bono cases. I don't really get much for it, but it gives me a good rep. Lots of people saw the costumes. And Ellie put me in the programme as the costume designer and creator. She even put my contact details in and said I was open for commissions!"

"You do know that pro-bono is a lawyer thing, right? But I get what you mean."

"She was so nice, and she worked so hard, Alya. The review is just horrible."

"Okay, girl, I know. There's nothing we can do. I mean... I can do my own review once I see it. But until then, the damage is done. Just don't think about it." Marinette pouted. "Ooh! Hey, what about the Night Market? You all set?"

"Yep!" she replied. "Everything's all ready to go. Just need to take it all down and set up. Are you coming tonight?"

"Girl, you know I am! In fact, I'm on my way now to help you set up," her friend said with a cheeky grin.

"What? No! Alya, you don't have to do that!"

"I know. That's what makes me so nice." She gave her a wink. "See you soon!"

With a heavy sigh, Marinette put her phone down and turned back the review, starting from the beginning since she'd lost her place.

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 _ _ **Once Upon Akuma - Review**__

 _ _'Once Upon Akuma' written and directed by Ellie Dubious had its first live show last night. It is the young playwright's first stage play and unfortunately, it was__ not __a hit.__

 _ _The play had a very 'interesting' theme, taking beloved fairy tales and twisting them up so that the villains were Akuma - the horrible monsters that terrorise our city. The stories told were familiar enough, but included some dramatic - and at times rather cliché – twists.__

 _ _The pacing of the play was not very easy to keep up with. Varying between fast and slow paced in a way that made no sense, and at times even skipping entire parts that one would consider crucial to the plot. This left quite a few things unexplained. For a play with so much potential, it was quite a shambles – let down by the writing and directing.__

 _ _Overall, it was quite terrible. The dialogue was clunky, stiff and somewhat unbelievable. The plot was all over the place, never really seemed to have a climax, nor did it have a well-defined ending, which left the audience somewhat confused and unsatisfied by the end. And even still, every story told lacked that one thing we have all come to expect from beloved fairy tales. A happy ever after. Every story ended with a twist, tragedy, or a fade out that completely cut the happy resolution we are used to. Some endings at least heavily implied that they would end up married and live happily ever after, but seemed to use our knowledge of that to carry the story.__

 _ _The acting wasn't bad. It was obvious that the cast was very skilled and the leads had good chemistry, but the script left much to be desired and didn't give them much to work with.__

 _ _The only thing that really stood out in the play were the incredible costumes. These stunning pieces of art were designed and created by a local student, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They were masterfully made and suited both the play and the era that the stories were from. It is rare to see such fine craftsmanship in the costumes of plays, especially in ones with a budget such as the one of this play. It is also rare to see work of this calibre from one so young. But this up and coming designer truly stole the show. It is undeniable that there are big things in the future for Miss Dupain-Cheng.__

 _ _Over all, the play had an original and contemporary idea but failed miserably in its attempts to blend such famous and beloved fairy tales with the Akuma and their backstory. However, it is clear that Miss Dubois has an avid love of fairy tales, if not a tight grasp on their key concepts. Her play has an enormous amount of potential, but it is clear that she needs a bit more practice before officially bringing her works to the stage.__

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"Marinette, you shouldn't feel bad," Tikki told her, placing her arms on her hand comfortingly. "You got the recognition you deserve, and so did Ellie. Maybe the review is a little harsh, but it does have some good points. Ellie may have worked hard, but maybe she's just not cut out to be a playwright."

She hummed unhappily. "It can't be easy to devise your own script like that. And she did it all by herself too."

"Who knows, maybe after this she might get together with a few people and rework the script for another time. It had a lot of potential. Everyone fails at something they love at some point. That's just when you try again. How many of your sewing projects or designs didn't turn out right?"

"Way too many," she groaned.

"Exactly! But you never gave up. You kept trying and kept practicing. And now you have your own brand name and a stall at the market. People are buying your wares and ordering commissions! And just look at that review! That was very high praise. Ellie just needs some more practice. Yes, this was probably a bit of a blow, but she will take the criticism from the review and learn from her mistakes. She will only get better!"

"I know," she said with a small smile. She couldn't help it when Tikki was just so positive. "I can't help but feel guilty about it, though... Maybe I should talk to her! I could make her some cookies. And we could revise her script or something. I could take Alya with me. Alya's good at writing. And her script for our short film was pretty good both before and after Nino got his hands on it," she giggled.

"See, that's the spirit! Ellie will be fine. I bet that one day her plays will be __famous__!"

"Yeah, you're right. She-"

"Marinette? Are you ready?" her mother's voice called up to her. "It's time to set up the stalls."

"Yes, Maman!" she shouted down. "I'll just be a moment!" Jumping up from the chair, she started gathering bags from the pile she had put together, ready to go.

"Do you need any help?"

She looked back at the pile. She already had six large bags hooked over her arms and in her hands… there was no way she was going to be able to carry anything else, let alone the two mannequins and the extra stands and tables she needed to take down three flights of stairs.

"Ah… yes please, Maman!"

"I'll send your father up," her mother replied.

"Okay," she called back, starting to head towards the trapdoor.

When she got to it she realised that she couldn't possibly open it with all the bags hooked precariously in her arms. Thankfully, Tikki dashed over and managed to drag it open enough that she was able to hook her foot under, and together they managed to swing it open. It was a struggle to get down the stairs and she almost fell over a few times. She could practically feel Tikki's anxiety as she clung to her collar.

She passed her father on the second floor and he laughed at the sight of his tiny daughter under a large pile of bags, telling her to be careful. She laughed and promised she would before carrying on cautiously down the last flight of stairs. With so much stuff, it was easier to go through the front of the bakery than out their personal entrance at the side. Her mother, who was already holding a box of cupcakes, held the door open for her, and they headed towards the park together.

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The park was already bustling with activity as the night market was set up. Some people were milling around, waiting for the festivities to start, but this early it was mostly the stall vendors. The park had been filled with custom marquees that gave each vendor a two-by-two-meter stall. Some had paid extra to get larger stalls, and others had brought along their own food trucks. A small fold-out stage had been set up and a few bands were lined up to play the night. Nino was considering signing up to play the next week. And there was a rumour that Jagged Stone was going to perform a song tonight.

Marinette and her mother walked over to a set of currently empty stalls. Her parents had always been part of the Summer Night Market, but recently they had talked about getting a stall for Marinette and her creations. When they told her that they would be willing to pay for her booth, she had worked incredibly hard. She had designed her own label and even made some tags to go on everything she made. She had made a portfolio of designs that people could commission from her, as well as some smaller items that she could sell while the stall was running, including some scarves, earrings, bags, and dolls. She'd done a trial run the week before and found that her Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls really seemed to be popular. Actually, quite a lot of her things had been popular. So this week she had gone all out. Not only did she have tons of stuff to sell, but she had done up some extra things for the stall. Her display was going to look amazing once it was done.

"Wow, girl, that is a lot of stuff," Alya said from behind her. Marinette whipped around, almost knocking her table over with the bags slung over her arms. "Whoa! Look out!" She rushed over to her friend and began taking some of them from her.

"Thanks, Alya," she said. "And this isn't all of it, either. Papa is bringing down the mannequins and displays."

"Mannequins? You've got mannequins this time?" Alya raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I did so well last time I thought I might make it look a little better. So I'm going to have some mannequins displaying a few outfits. There's also some stands for some of the stuff in here. And…" she searched around her for a certain bag, digging inside and pulling something out, "this!"

With a shake, she unfurled a white banner with her new logo on it. The words 'Lucky Charm' were done to look as if they had been embroidered on. The words were black, but the first letter of each word was red, along with a dotted line, like stitching, looping around the words and showing the trail of the ladybug that sat at the end of the logo. For her, it was a bit of a personal joke. She and Tikki had had a bit of a giggle about it. No one knew that the words meant so much to her. Like Alya, most people would just think that she was a Ladybug fan, not Ladybug herself. When Alya had first seen her logo, she had squealed and hugged her, joyously shouting that 'she always knew she was a closet Ladybug fan!'

"Oh my god, that is off the chain!" Alya cried, looking at the banner in glee.

"Wanna help me put it up?"

"Heck yeah, I do!"

Excitedly, the two girls shimmied in behind the table and began lining the banner up to the centre of the stall, pinning it to the back. By the time Marinette was back to searching through the bags, her father had come by with the rest of the stuff. Alya had stared at it all with large eyes, making him laugh before giving Marinette a kiss on the cheek and heading to the stall next door to help Sabine out with the bakery's stall.

It took them another 15 minutes at least to finish setting up, and by that time people were starting to mill around. Alya had been so excited to see it all. Each item she sold had a branded tag with the price on it. And on the corner of the table, she had her commissions set up with an ordering sheet next to a few portfolios worth of designs. Not everything would fit on the table, so she only had a few of each set out on display. And with the two mannequins in the background with some of her outfits on, the stall looked stunning. To complete the look, she had made a ladybug-patterned apron with a pouch for money... she'd had a bit of trouble with that last time, and was taking a leaf out of her mother's book.

"Damn! How many Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls do you have in here?!" Alya exclaimed as she grabbed some from the bag to put on the table.

"A lot," she replied. "There's more in the other bag. And there're a few Akuma dolls as well. They were so popular last time I wanted to be prepared."

"Oh, you are __so__ not going to be prepared enough! I'm posting these on the Ladyblog!" Taking out her phone, she placed the two dolls nicely and took a shot of them, then she grabbed out one of the Lady Wifi dolls and took a shot of that. "Alright, one last photo. Mari, I need one of you and your stall! Get in behind the table and look pretty."

"I always look pretty," she snorted as Alya shuffled out to the front and lined up a shot.

"That's true."

"Damn right it is!" a voice with an American accent called. They both looked up to see Jagged Stone and Penny walking past. Jagged pulled the finger guns at her. "Stall's looking rad, Marinette, my girl! I'll have to swing by later!"

"Okay!" she called back, waving to him and Penny. She was getting in position to pose when she noticed Alya's entertained look. "What?"

"Girl, you are friends with __so__ many famous people. Jagged Stone, Nadia Chamak, Chat Noir, Ladybug, Adrien. Even Gabriel Agreste seemed to like you and he never seems to like anyone. I don't know how you do it!"

"Um... I'm just friendly?" she said sheepishly.

"More like lucky. Now get your fine butt ready for this photo." Marinette stood in the centre of her table, arms spread out on a bit of an angle as she showed her work off, a wide smile on her face. The flash went off and she turned back around to the bags to finish sorting everything out. "This is gonna look great," Alya muttered, busy typing away on her phone.

"So, how much for the coolest looking dolls in all of Paris?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.

Marinette stiffened at the sound of his voice. Was that... Chat Noir? He was early? She rolled her eyes and turned around, prepared to tell that silly cat to stop having such a big ego, but froze when she saw who it was standing at her table.

"A-Adrien!"

"Hey, Marinette," he greeted, giving her a fond smile. An awkward grin froze on her face. She could have sworn it was Chat talking to her, but instead, she was faced with Nino and Adrien.

"Sup Mari! The stall looks awesome! You must have worked really hard to get this done," Nino said, looking at the table with a very impressed expression.

"Y-yeah. I was working on this stuff all week," she said, fighting a blush. "And I probably still didn't make enough. Alya just posted the dolls to the Ladyblog."

Adrien chuckled. "Oh no, you're going to get swamped!"

"And it's going to be great!" Alya said gleefully.

"So… how much are they?" Adrien asked again, grabbing his wallet from his pocket.

Marinette's eyes widened. "Y-you're actually going to get some?!"

"Well, yeah. Ladybug and Chat Noir are awesome. Besides, you're really talented, and I gotta support my friends."

"Th-they're 15 euro each," she said, the blush growing at his compliment. "Or 25 for both. I thought I'd do a double deal on them, because most people were buying Ladybug last week, and you can't have Ladybug without Chat Noir, so…"

"Oh yeah, you gotta have both. They're a team." He sent her a wink as he pulled the cash from his wallet and handed it over.

"Mmhm." She handed two of the dolls over to him and he eagerly took them from her.

"You need like… one of those portable EFTPOS machines, or something," Nino said. "That way you'll probably get even more people coming to buy stuff. Maybe we should talk to Theo, see if he can hook you up with one. He's good at stuff like that."

Adrien blinked in confusion. "Isn't Theo a sculptor?"

Alya snorted. "Theo is everything!"

"What?"

"He's a jack-of-all-trades," Nino supplied. "He picks up lots of extra jobs everywhere to pay his bills and art supplies and stuff. So, Theo does everything really. If you need something, he can either do it or find it. He's the man!"

"Maybe next week," she said, smiling weakly.

"You're coming again next week?" Adrien asked excitedly. "We can help you out, right Nino… Well, if I don't have anything booked. But if I can't help out here I can help with organising. I could even pay for the booth. I could grab you some fabric from my father's workshop!"

"Aww, isn't that sweet of you?" Alya said, nudging Marinette suggestively. Marinette, however, appeared to have mentally crashed. "Pfft! Maybe too sweet, Adrien. I think has crashed."

"It… wasn't too much, was it?" he asked nervously.

Alya laughed. "Not at all. This girl here is just silly about getting help from other people. She'll never admit when she needs help. She'd rather crash and burn a few times first."

"Well too bad. I insist. This so cool. And who knows, maybe one day Lucky Charm will be a bigger brand than Gabriel." He gave a cheeky grin and she struggled to remain on her feet. She was about to open her mouth and stammer something out when his eyes widened and he suddenly shouted, "Oh! That reminds me, I need to call my father!" He took his phone out of his pocket "Can you hold these while I call him?" He held the two dolls out to Nino who grabbed them for him before he began dialing and walked off a bit.

Nino puffed out a breath, running his free hand under his cap and through his hair. "Why would he need to call his dad? I hope everything's okay. It took him a bit to convince his old man to even let him out today."

"You don't think he'll change his mind, do you?" Alya asked, a little worried for her friend. "He only just got out."

"I don't know, but... is he smiling?"

"Maybe there's good news?"

"Ah... have you __met__ Gabriel Agreste?" Nino snorted. "I doubt he could make anyone smile."

"On the flip side, I doubt it takes much for him to make Adrien smile. He probably just has to look at him and- Yep. There goes the smile."

Marinette peered around her booth to see Adrien standing off to the side. He had one arm folded, the hand tucked under his arm, while the other was holding his phone to his ear. He was frowning slightly, his foot tapping almost impatiently - if only he didn't seem so anxious.

"I don't think his dad is picking up," she told them.

"Typical," Alya huffed. "When has he ever answered any of Adrien's-"

She was cut off by a scream, and the teens whipped their heads around to see the more crowded part of the market break apart in a panic. People started running in fear as blue jets of light shot towards everyone. Looking at where the beams were coming from, it didn't take a genius to realise the girl in the sky was an Akuma. They saw one of the beams of light streak down and hit someone, they instantly disappeared in a shower of sparks.

Marinette tensed, ready to run and find a place to transform.

Looking up into the sky, they could easily see the Akuma from where they were. She was a sparkly figure of blue and purple, her hair two tones in the same colours as her poofy dress. Her skin was pale purple, but her eyes and lips were dark. With her dress, iridescent fairy wings, and the book in her hand she looked like a fairy godmother. Though, Marinette had never seen a fairy godmother look so malevolent. A joyful, malicious sneer was spread across the barely recognisable face of Ellie Dubois as she shot another light beam from her free hand, making another person disappear.

"Oh no!" she gasped. "Ellie…"

"Oh shit!" Alya hissed. "Mari, you gotta run!"

"What? Why?" Marinette was so momentarily confused about why Alya wanted to run that she missed that it was the perfect excuse to get away from them.

"Why?!" Alya cried. "Are you seriously asking me __why__ you need to run away from an Akuma that was publically humiliated in a review that praised you to the high heavens?!"

"Marinette!" the Akuma shouted as if to prove Alya's point. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, where are you?! I know you're here!"

"Go, go, go!" Alya yelled at her, dragging her from behind her stall and pushing her down the path, urging her to run. But it was too late. The Akuma had spotted her.

"There you are!" she growled, rushing over to where they were. She flew much faster than Marinette would have expected and it was barely a second before she was before them.

"Leave her alone!" Alya said defiantly, standing in front of her friend. Nino came and stood beside her, the two of them forming a barrier - a shield - between them. She should be running. She should have been getting out of there and finding somewhere to transform. But she was so distracted and almost horrified by the sight of her friends standing between her and a vengeful Akuma to protect her. It should be the other way around.

"What are you doing?!" she gasped. "Run! Come on!" She grabbed her friend's hand and tried to pull her along, but she refused to budge.

"How valiant of you," the Akuma sneered. "You would make a wonderful hero in a story." She raised her hand towards them and Nino's eyes widened in fear.

"Alya, run!" she shouted, tugging her again. This time, thankfully, she listened, and the three of them turned and bolted through the rapidly emptying park. "What the hell were you thinking?!" she cried, not looking back at her friends. "You could have been hurt! She could have got you!"

"She's trying - to get you!" Alya panted from somewhere behind her.

"It's not your job to try and protect me. I can look after myself! I don't want my friends getting hurt because of me!"

As she ran her eyes darted about for a place to hide. She didn't know if she could manage to slip away with the Akuma so intent on going after her. She probably wouldn't be able to get a break until Chat Noir arrived and distracted her. Plus she'd have to try and slip away from Alya and Nino. The two seemed intent on guarding her and protecting her. It made her worry, she really should be the one protecting them, not the other way around. But it's not like they knew. As far as they were aware, she was just their sweet, clumsy friend… Oh god, they probably saw her as somewhat defenseless. Especially since they believed that she had been caught or turned into something during majority of the Akuma attacks.

Actually… why hadn't Alya retorted to her comment about being able to take care of herself when they seemed to think she was some sort of damsel in distress?

Looking back, her heart almost stopped. Alya and Nino weren't there anymore. They were gone. There was still a faint glow of sparkles in the air a little way behind her, like someone had exploded a bag of blue glitter and it was very, very slowly drifting to the ground. The Akuma was floating just behind her, her hand still outstretched and a wicked grin on her face. The book in her other hand was glowing slightly with the blue magic but settled down to normal again.

"Alya! Nino!" she cried.

"They're gone, my dear, just as you are about to be!" the Akuma hissed, advancing towards her. "You think that you can outshine me in my own show? Well, the spotlight's about to be all yours!"

She shoved her hand forward, and a jet of the blue light flew out towards her. Marinette dived out of the way, recovering with a roll and stood up, making sure to face the Akuma. Because of this she didn't see the rise in the path and tripped over it, falling backward into the wall behind her and sliding to the ground. As the Akuma advanced, she shuffled along until she hit another wall. Oh god, she was literally backed into a corner.

The Akuma raised her hand again, the blue magic forming around it.

"Hey!" a familiar voice cried. A moment later a black-clad figure dropped down in front of her, his staff ready. "Why don't you get your fairy godmother bippity boppity boo-ty out of here and leave my friends alone!"

"Fairytale!" she growled. "I'm not a fairy godmother, my name is __Fairytale!__ "

Chat just ignored her, taking her momentary distraction to turn to Marinette."You alright, Princess?" he asked, holding out a hand and helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm alright… And that pun was __horrible__."

"You mean magical," he said with a wink. She couldn't even bring herself to roll her eyes at this. She had to escape and transform. Now.

"Chat, she got Alya and Nino!" she told him. The range of emotions that she saw flash in his eyes startled her. Shock, sadness, fear, anger. It was as if he had taken the capture of her friends personally. Then again... he did seem to have a fondness for Alya, she'd noticed.

"Chat Noir, just who I was looking for," Fairytale said with a grin. "Look at you protecting your __princess__. You are a hero aren't you."

"Well, I don't mean to brag…" he said cheekily.

"You need to be out of my way until Ladybug shows up…" Her eyes darted calculatingly between the two of them and for a split second, she was scared that seeing them together had made Fairytale make a horrible connection. But then she grinned wickedly. "I think I've found my main characters."

"What?" Chat said in confusion.

Marinette, however, realised what she was talking about. The book. She was sucking people into a book. Her own real life fairytale she could direct.

"Chat!" she cried, reaching out to him as Fairytale raised her hand to blast them. Chat reacted quickly, his arm wrapping around her waist at the same time as he planted his staff into the ground. They shot up onto the roof above them just as a jet of magic hit right where they had just been.

"You're a natural at that," he complimented, grabbing her hand. "Now run!" He pulled her along just as Fairytale flew up to their level.

God, she hated flying Akuma. Cheaters!

She saw that Chat was heading towards the edge of the building and at the same time as he went to maneuver her, she swung herself onto his back, the two of them working together in perfect time. Chat didn't lose momentum through the entire moment and jumped flawlessly onto the next roof over. It was a little jolting for Marinette, who was used to making her own way from rooftop to rooftop, but she could tell that Chat had done everything he could to make the jump smooth for her.

She was flung from his back, however, when he suddenly dodged a blast that only narrowly missed them. She hadn't been prepared for the movement and tumbled to the ground. She had barely landed before Chat was pulling her to her feet.

She saw his eyes widen, and then he wrapped his arms around her in a way that was so incredibly familiar. For a moment she thought he was about to pick her up…

But then blue light exploded around her… and everything went black.


	2. Hair Black as Night

**Phew!** **  
** **So, this chapter has been in the works for a while now, but I had to take a mini hiatus from writing. I had to finish up one of my plays (which took up pretty much every spare minute of my time) and then after that, I had 2 weeks to finish 6 assignments. Honestly, I was SO tired, and it feels so strange having time to myself again.** **  
** **Though I have put it to good use and FINALLY finished this chapter! It's quite long, so I'm happy. I already have a little bit of the next chapter done too... though... it's the end half of it.** **  
** **I'm trying to use the Writeometer app to try and get some deadlines set and write a bit more on different fics. (I have over 150 WIPs now so... I'm kinda doomed. The people who are supposed to tell me no keep saying yes.)** **  
** **Anyway, I really had fun with this chapter. Marichat interactions are brilliant!**

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 **Hair As Black As Night**

Marinette blinked, shaking her head in disorientation. It didn't take her very long to figure out she'd been transported to somewhere else.

Oddly, the first most glaringly obvious difference was Chat. He was no longer wrapped protectively around her. He was... gone. He was nowhere in sight. Though, that wasn't the biggest change. Not by far.

It was now nighttime and she was standing at the edge of a forest, looking out at a castle lit up in the distance. The sight of it made her feel... terrified and pretty shaken. Her feet hurt as if she'd run pretty far in horrible shoes. And looking down, she saw that not only was she in an impractical pair of small heels, she also looked like she was wearing a dress that looked like something worn by nobility in 19th century Germany. Her face felt stiff and grimy as if she'd been crying a while and rubbing at her face with her rather dirty hands. They looked a little scraped like she'd fallen over a few times.

"Tikki, what happened?" she asked, still looking down at the dress. At a closer look, it had a torn hem and was splattered with mud and... blood. That was blood! A _lot_ of blood! She was just about to panic at that when she realised that her friend hadn't replied, she tore her eyes away from the dress and began to look about her. "Tikki?" Still no reply or sign of her. Frantically she began searching the folds of her clothing for the small Kwami. "Tikki, where are you?!" she cried. Out of habit, she reached up to touch her earring and froze, a gasp wrenching itself from her chest. She was wearing earrings… but they weren't her Miraculous. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She was practically sobbing, her hands fluttering over herself in a vain attempt to look for Tikki or her Miraculous.

Just when she was three seconds from bursting into tears in a full-blown panic, she was knocked off her feet. A yellow blast of light shot up from the palace into the sky. The blast shook the ground so hard that she was left sprawled on the dirt for a good moment. The light stopped and the shaking ceased, and Marinette remained fallen on the ground, staring at the palace in horror.

' _Run_ ,' her mind told her.

Scrambling to her feet, she bit her lip and continued to look at the castle. Something was happening there…

' _Run_.'

And even if she didn't have her Miraculous, she was still Ladybug.

' _Run_.'

She had to do something.

' _Run!_ '

Her breath quickened.

' _Run!_ '

She had to do something…

' _Run!_ '

She had to…

' _**Run!**_ '

She turned and bolted, her feet taking her into the forest as fast as they could. An irrational fear and her panic over losing Tikki had her sprinting through the woods, barely missing branches and tripping over roots. No matter how much she dodged, the trees still came at her. Branches scratched at her, almost like they were reaching out to swipe at her. Squeals and cries escaped her as she struggled to run away.

A clawed branch curled around her wrist and she shrieked as she was jolted to a stop. She tried to pull her arm from its grip, whimpering in terror when she saw a pair of glowing green eyes.

"Marinette!" a familiar voice cried. A clawed hand came down on her shoulder and she paused her struggling. "Princess, calm down. It's me."

Now that she actually stopped to look at what had grabbed her, she could see a familiar figure with green eyes and cat ears.

"C-Chat Noir?" she stuttered.

"Hey," he said softly, leaning in a little closer now that he was no longer in danger of being hit by flailing limbs.

She noticed that he looked different. He wasn't wearing his usual catsuit. His leather mask, ears and tail were still in place, but he looked to be wearing medieval hunters clothes. Since most of it was made out of black linen and leather, it still looked Chat Noir-esk.

"Chat?" she said again, her voice meek.

"Yeah. Marinette, are you okay?" He was looking at her in concern and she knew that he had never seen her looking this terrified before.

"I don't know," she told him. "I'm only a little scratched up and my feet hurt because of these _stupid_ shoes, but… Chat, what the hell is going on? What did that Akuma do?"

Chat Noir sighed, glancing to the side. "From what I can gather, we've been thrown into a fairytale. I'm pretty sure it's Snow White, but it's a little different. Chloé is the wicked step- _sister_. From what I could gather, magic and sorcery is banned, but since she was a princess, rather than killing her, the king and queen locked her in a tower. Seems like tonight she decided to break out and…" He paused, shuddering slightly. "Well, kill everyone. Except for Snow White, she got away. So, of course, she calls me to go find her and… and, well…"

"You're the huntsman, aren't you?" she said, her question sounding more like a statement. He nodded. As they turned and started slowly walking deeper into the woods, something occurred to her. Evil step-sister Chloé had massacred all of the nobility. She was wearing clothing of royal standards, running through a creepy forest, and had just been caught by Huntsman Chat. "Oh god, I'm Snow White, aren't I?"

Chat gave a rueful smirk. "Seems like it."

"Brilliant," she grumbled. "Chloé's wanted to kill me for years, looks like she's finally getting her chance."

"She doesn't actually kill you," he said with a slight grimace.

"No, she just attempts to suffocate me, and poison me with a comb and an apple!" She almost tripped on a root while she ranted, but Chat caught her and sniggered.

"Well, on the bright side, Princess, you get woken up by a kiss from a handsome prince." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her, but Marinette ignored it as she immediately began imagining Adrien dressed as a prince, leaning down to kiss her… "-Marinette?"

"Huh?" she said, snapping back to reality.

"Looks like you already have a prince in mind."He grinned.

"Shut up, Chat!" she cried, her cheeks flaring red. "You are enjoying this _way_ too much. You have to cut out a deer heart to save me, you know."

He instantly paled. "Um… there isn't like… a heart just… lying around ready for me, is there?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to smirk. "Nope. Sorry Kitty, but you have to go hunting. Or you _could_ buy a heart from a butcher in town or something like that. But if Chloé is in the same situation as us she'll know it's not mine already away."

Chat seemed to consider this. "Huh. You're right. When she sent me off she did tell me to go 'pretend' to kill Snow White."

She grinned at him, feeling a little bit better. "So then, are you going to let me go so I can go find the cottage now?"

"I'll do you one better, I'll help you find it."

Her mouth fell open. "What?!"

"Well, considering she _knows_ what I'm going to do, there's no point in doing it at all. There's no point in even going back. And I'd rather spend my time in here with you until Ladybug can get us out." He didn't seem to notice her guilty look, shooting her a cheeky grin instead. "Besides, who else is going to keep you out of trouble?"

"Very funny," she said, sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at him. "I can find the cottage just fine by myself."

She folded her arms and turned away from him. She took one step… and tripped on a root. She was only saved from falling flat on her face by Chat catching her. His arms wrapped around her waist and he quickly pulled her into his chest.

"You know, I'm sure you can, Princess," he said, his breath gently blowing her hair. "But I have night vision and you don't. I'll be able to see where we're going. I could even carry you to save your feet. It would make me feel better knowing you _had_ gotten there in once piece. Besides, it will give me another reason not to go back."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can help me find the cottage," she told him. She could think of much worse things than spending time with one of her best friends, even if she would have to stay focused so she wouldn't slip up.

She was always cautious about being around Chat when she was just herself. She was scared that she'd act too much like Ladybug and he'd figure her out. But she did like hanging out with him. She always enjoyed their joint patrols. The moments where they could just sit quietly, or talk, or chase each other over Paris for fun. He was one of the most important people in the world to her, and she'd always been secretly ecstatic that he liked her as Marinette as well, even though she constantly tried to push him away.

"Great!" Chat said, looking… oddly excited. Was he _really_ that excited to be spending time with her? "If you jump up on my back we can get going."

"I can walk on my own," she huffed. She wasn't some damsel or invalid. Why was everyone so intent on helping her? She didn't need help!

Chat just shook his head and chuckled in exasperation. "You are the _most_ stubborn person I know! Well, second most next to Ladybug."

So… the stubbornest person. She wanted to protest, but… well, yeah, she was a very stubborn person and she knew it. Instead, not dignifying him with a response, she turned on her heel and marched off ahead of him.

"Ah… Marinette?"

"What, Chat?" she asked in irritation.

He cleared his throat sheepishly. "Ah, the path is that way," he said, pointing off a bit to the right. Without a word, she strutted back, trying to head in the right direction with as much dignity as she could. Chat easily fell into step with her. "Piggyback offer still stands, Princess." Suddenly his eyes lit up as something occurred to him and he laughed. "Ha! Princess. How appropriate."

This made Marinette smile, but still, she shook her head. "I can't believe you call me that," she said quietly. She had no idea how a one-time joking nickname like that had stuck.

"Well you are!" he cried. "Quite literally at the moment, but I've always thought you have all the perfect qualities one would expect from a princess."

She scoffed in disbelief. "What qualities? Stubborn, clumsy, and able to kick the occasional Akuma butt?"

" No. Beautiful, smart, talented, brave, a natural leader, _and_ able to kick the occasional Akuma butt."

For a moment, Marinette was taken aback by what he said. She stopped, her mouth falling open slightly in surprise. She'd only heard her parents say all of those things. And one or two of them from Alya and a few select others. But never from someone, she was actually _interested_ in.

...Wait, what?

She shook her head, clearing it of that errant thought and focusing on the situation at hand. Was that seriously what Chat thought about her? Not as Ladybug, but _her_. The thought that he did baffled her but she couldn't let Chat Noir see her falter at his words. Quickly she fell back into step and picked her bravado back off the floor.

"Kicking Akuma butt?" she said with a hint of sass. "Is that a prerequisite for a princess now?"

"Yup, totally is," he smirked. "After all, Princess Pingyang of the Zang Dynasty was a Chat Noir. I don't think she fought Akuma, but she did lead an army, so it seems legitimate. So, there is my proof that one Marinette Dupain-Cheng is in fact, a princess."

"I see," she said with a smirk. "Well then- Ahhh!" She suddenly cried out when she tripped over what she assumed to be another stupid root. "Thank goodness you didn't say 'graceful' on that list because graceful I am not."

"I'd disagree with that," he told her. "You may be a bit clumsy sometimes, but you do have a certain grace about you. Especially when you're doing something you love. Besides, I'd love to see Princess Grace Kelly walking through a dark forest without tripping up." He offered her a hand up and she accepted with a smile. However, that smile quickly turned into a grimace of pain when she put pressure on her foot. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just my ankle. I'll be fine." She attempted to walk on, but the pain bit at her again and she held back a small hiss.

"Yeah, no," he said, stopping her by tightening his grip on her hand. "Come on, jump up on my back."

"Chat I can-"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. You can willingly jump up on my back, or I will put you there. I'm not letting you walk blindly through a forest with a bung ankle. I don't care if it's minor, if you walk on it, it will only get worse. So, easy way or hard way?" Marinette just muttered something he couldn't quite catch and turned sulkily away from him. He just shrugged. "Easy way it is, then." And with that, he grabbed her by the arm and leg and swung her up onto his back, shifting about a bit to get them both comfortable.

"Ahh! Chat!" she growled. "How is that the easy way!"

"Come on, Princess. We both know that the hardest thing for you is admitting that you need help," he said cheekily, starting to walk off down the path with a grin on his face.

"I could easily choke you right now," she said flatly, her arms tightening a little around his neck.

"But you won't. You love me too much." In annoyance, she swung her good leg down in a kick anywhere she could land, managing to hit him in the thigh. "Ow! Okay, that one was deserved."

"Just... mush, Kitty."

"Yes, your highness," he said. She would have bet that if he'd had a hand free, he would have given her one of his two finger salutes.

.

The rest of the journey was completed in blissful silence. It wasn't blissful because they weren't talking – she enjoyed the banter she shared with her partner – but rather is was such a comfortable silence. Piggybacks were never really all that comfortable, but she did grow used to the rhythm. She could feel the way he moved, and the steady movement of his breathing against her chest. Her head was also right in by his neck, and she couldn't help but breath in his rather intoxicating, musky scent.

By the time they arrived at the cottage, the sun had been up for an hour or so, and she was starting to nod off.

"Hey, Princess, we're here," he said quietly, gently jostling her so she could wake up and see.

It was a quaint little home, built into the side of a hill, almost like a Hobbit hole. The roof looked like it was made of the roots of what was once a giant tree, and someone had come along and built a pretty house underneath it.

He walked up to the door, nudging it open. Of course, it was unlocked. This _was_ a fairytale. The inside actually had a lot of space, tunnelling deep into the hill and down slightly. There was even a platform running along the top that gave it a faux second level, like in his own room back home. Thankfully, though, it all seemed clean. He'd be damned if he let Marinette (who was already tired enough as it was) clean up after seven lazy, little slobs.

He found the bedroom after a short look about, snorting when he saw the names on the bed. They weren't the same as the classic dwarf names, and he was interested in finding out who they all belonged to. Nosey, Lazy, Brainy, Arty, Moody, Handy and Cupid. After a moment of deliberation, he decided that the Arty name fitted her best, and he gently plonked her down on it. Instantly, she tiredly began to snuggle into the covers.

"Just a moment, Princess, we have to sort you out first." She just mumbled in response. Something about sleep being good for kitties.

He just shook his head in amusement and took off her shoes as carefully as he could. He could see that her ankle was a little swollen, but it wouldn't be too bad. Nonetheless, he searched about the house until he came across a scrap of fabric he was able to tear into bandages and began wrapping it around her foot with practised motions. She was already half asleep and didn't seem to respond.

With a fond smile, he pulled the duvet up over her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"You know, Princess," he said, stifling a yawn. "You really do make a beautiful Snow White."

He was about to get up to leave, but his exhaustion caught up with him, and instead, he found himself slowly lying down on the soft blankets at her feet, his eyelids drooping heavily. And as he drifted off, a peacefully slumbering Marinette just in his view, all he could think about was the harm that was going to come to her in this story. And that he would do anything to save her from it. That he would protect her because no one hurt his Princess...

* * *

 **.oOo.**

* * *

"You know, they kind of look cute like that?"

Marinette slowly drifted back to consciousness, hushed voices the first thing that she was aware of.

"Oh man! I so wish I had my camera!"

"S-she looks really pretty in that..."

"Who is he even meant to be anyway? I don't think he's the prince..."

"Yeah, and what's he still doing here? I thought Snow White was supposed to be on her own."

"Shh! Shh! Guys, she's waking up!"

Tiredly, she rubbed at her eyes and glared at the people around her. She was met by the faces of Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, Nathanaël, Ivan, and... Theo?

"Aww, come on, Mari. That look isn't very befitting of a princess," Alya teased.

"Your face isn't very befitting of a princess," she grumbled, attempting to roll back over. Alya just snorted in amusement.

"As you boys can see, Marinette is not a morning person."

"But, going by the position of the sun, it is definitely somewhere around mid-afternoon," Max said.

"Shut up, Max," she muttered. "We found this place _after_ the sun came up. It's too early to deal with your science!" Again, she attempted to roll over and get comfortable, but something was pinning her legs down. She pushed herself up slightly and looked down to see a messy mop of blond hair and black cat ears snuggled into her hip. A black-clothed arm was draped over her legs, and he had a peaceful, happy expression on his face. He… kind looked cute like that. And he was wrapped around her like he didn't want to let go...

Wait, what the hell was Chat Noir doing wrapped around her waist? She looked at Alya in bewilderment and Alya shrugged.

"He's been cuddled up to you since we found the two of you," she told her, a shit-eating grin on her face.

She scowled and rolled her eyes at what she knew her friend was implying before sitting up a bit and poking at Chat Noir's cheek. "Chat," she said. "Chat, wake up."

"Mmm… no…" he mumbled, snuggling in even more, his other hand coming up to rest by his head, and ended up resting on her butt. Heat flooded her face and she jumped in surprise.

"Chat!" she cried.

"Not now, Princess. Sleep."

"Chat Noir, we have company, I want to get up, and your hand is on my ass!"

That seemed to wake him up, and he snapped bolt upright, snatching his hands away as if he'd been stung. A slight blush could be seen spreading out under his mask and his eyes were wide. "S-sorry!" he said quickly. He was distracted from his embarrassment by Alya snorting as she barely held back a laugh. "Morning, Alya," he said.

"It's the afternoon, Chat Noir."

"Well then, good afternoon." He grinned, looking about at the small group. "What are you all doing here anyway?"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Well, apparently we're the 'dwarves'," he said, using his fingers to make quotation marks.

"...I don't want to _belittle_ you or anything, but aren't you seven a bit tall to be dwarves?"

Beside him, Marinette let out a long-suffering groan. "It's too early for this!" she moaned. "It's too early for everything!"

"Ooh! Ooh! I want to do the name matching!" Chat cried, looking around at them. He glanced at the first bed he could see, seeing the name 'Nosey'. He snorted. "Oh, Nosey _has_ to be Alya."

"I'm not nosey, I'm a reporter!" she huffed, sounding like this was something she'd argued many times now.

"Moody? What kind of name is that? I'm guessing that's Ivan, but he's more… broody and likes metal, you know?" Ivan raised an eyebrow at him and Marinette found herself holding back a giggle. "Brainy…" He looked about the group till his eyes fell on Max and he pointed to him. "No question about it. "Cupid… Cupid?" He looked at the others. The only person he'd associate with Cupid was Alya, mostly because she was nosey and he knew she tried to set people up with each other. Then again… "Oh! Kim! You were Dark Cupid!" He grinned, happy he had cracked the puzzle. His eyes flicked to Nathanaël, and he remembered that he had popped Marinette down on a bed labelled 'Arty'. "You have to be Arty, hands down." Then he turned to the other two.

"Well, now we're down to the easy ones," Nino said casually, his hands in his pockets.

Chat Noir's brow furrowed. "Easy? You two are the difficult ones," he told them. The only names left were 'Lazy' and 'Handy'. As far as he knew, neither of those fit Nino. He knew his best friend, and he _was not_ lazy… but on the other hand, he wasn't really handy either. On the flipside, he didn't really know much about Theo, he just knew that he did way too many jobs to be considered lazy. "I want to say Handy and Lazy," he said, pointing to Theo and Nino respectively, "but Nino's not lazy. He's just chill."

Nino smiled widely. "Thanks for saying that, dude, but you got it bang on."

"Huh, weird. Then again, Kim got a name based off his Akuma. He's certainly not one of the first people I think of when thinking about matchmakers."

"Really? And who do you think of?" Marinette asked. Subtly, Chat flicked his eyes towards Alya and his head gave the slightest nod in her direction. It was the same subtle body language he used to talk to Ladybug, and she understood every movement. She let out a giggle. "Oh yeah. Definitely. Me too. She's the worst!"

"Uh, did we miss something?" Kim asked in confusion, looking at his best friend. Max just shrugged, not having caught the silent conversation.

"I think she's talking about me," Alya said with a roll of her eyes. "Girl, how did you even end up in here? As Snow, nonetheless."

She grinned sheepishly. "Well… Chat came along and helped me for a bit. But then we were caught, and Ellie said something about having her main characters and… well, we both ended up in here."

"This is nuts," Nino sighed. "Dude, how are we going to get out of here if you're in here with us?"

Chat Noir just smiled easily. "We'll just have to wait for Ladybug to get us out. She always does."

Marinette looked down at the bright quilt guilty, chewing at her lip. Not this time. She couldn't save them this time because both of them were in there. But it wasn't like she could say that.

How were they even supposed to get out at all if both heroes were trapped inside? It wasn't like she could use Miraculous Cure. She didn't even know where Tikki and her Miraculous were!

"B-but don't expect me to clean for you till that happens," she said, trying not to let her voice shake. Attempting to distract herself from that thought. Now was not the time to ponder it.

"Fine by us," Nathanaël said with a shrug. "I mean, it's not like we go to the mines and dig or anything. Actually, we went to this clearing. I was drawing. Nino and Kim were tossing about a ball Kim found."

"Yeah, we were just kind of… compelled to leave the house but after that… nothing," Ivan told them. "Then after a few hours, we had the same feeling sorta telling us to go home.

Marinette nodded. "I had the same thing when I first arrived. Even though I had no reason to be, I was terrified and wanted to run," she said, climbing out of bed and stretching. She winced when she put pressure on her foot, remembering that she'd hurt it, and looked down to see that it had been bandaged up. "Huh. How did that get there?" she wondered.

"That was me," Chat Noir told her. "You were really tired and out of it when we got here, and I didn't want it to get worse, so I strapped it up."

"You did a good job," Kim said, inspecting the bandage. "You must be used to it from like… all the superhero stuff, right?"

"Sometimes. Usually, the suit prevents most injuries, or Miraculous Cure fixes it up. I learnt how to do that playing sports. I've faced Akuma's less dangerous than some sports, yet my father is fine with those, and would flip if he ever found out that I'm Chat Noir." He chuckled at the thought, but also seemed to pale a little.

"What kind of sports?" Alya asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Lots over the years, but I'm only down to a couple at the moment. Badminton, archery, fencing, rock climbing, basketball, polo… I tried hockey once, but I came back covered in bruises the first week and Father didn't let me play again."

"What a dick," Ivan muttered.

"Wow, you play a lot of sports," Nathanael said.

"No wonder you're so ripped!" Kim exclaimed. Chat blushed slightly at the comment but preened regardless. Marinette was about to react like she normally would when she saw pretty much everyone else roll their eyes, facepalm, or shake their head in exasperation at Kim.

.

"Okay, okay, enough chit chat. Let them rest. It's dinner time," Theo said. Everyone looked at him questioningly. "It may be a little early, but we all need food. No one had breakfast, and all we had for lunch was an apple from that tree we found."

"No apples!" Chat said, pointing a stern finger at the artist.

"I _am_ pretty hungry. I don't think I've eaten since yesterday," Marinette said. Chat's stomach growled in agreeance.

"Dinner it is then!" he said.

"Alright then, come on, boys. Marinette, you stay here off your foot." Theo started to move off towards the kitchen but noticed that no one was following him. All the boys stood about awkwardly, some making nervous or embarrassed gestures. "What?"

"Um… I can't cook," Chat Noir admitted.

"Yeah, neither," Nino said. Chat's eyebrows rose in surprise, especially when pretty much all the other boys agreed.

"Wait, I didn't know you had a chef too." The look of confusion on her Kitty's face was priceless, but she found her eyebrows rising as what he said suddenly clicked.

"Ah, no. I have a _mum_ , dude!" Nino said incredulously.

"Oh. Oh, ah… I… don't…" he scratched awkwardly at the back of his head and she noticed a glint of sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before.

It seemed… wrong. She didn't like her Kitty looking so upset like that. Her heart ached for him, especially since by what he said, he didn't have a full family. His mother was gone and he missed her. He had never mentioned her before… However, he had mentioned his father once or twice to her before. Every time he had seemed a bit nervous, and just from what he said… She did _not_ like his father. She frowned, feeling her Kitten's pain a moment. She couldn't imagine her life without her wonderful parents. It seemed that the others did a little as well. Chat looked sad and a little nervous at his slip up. She knew that he didn't like attention like that…

"Wait… Chat, are you… rich?!" she cried, suddenly trying to change the mood. "Oh my god! This makes so much sense! You're not an alley cat, you're a pampered show kitty! That's why you're always showing off!"

Chat Noir was taken aback by the sudden change, but at least the pain was now gone from his eyes.

"Um… well, yeah. I kind of am," he admitted, grinning and sheepishly scratching at the back of his head again. "But hey! What makes you think I show off because I'm a show cat?!" Now he sounded mildly offended, but much happier now that he had taken the bait. "What If I'm a pampered show kitty with very strict rules and just like to sneak out of the house to act like an alley cat when I can?"

"Oh really?" she said slyly. "Let me guess? You've got a minder and everything? A bodyguard? Security cameras?"

"Oh yeah, the whole mission impossible. You have no idea!" He grinned.

"Bro, you and Adrien would get along so well," Nino laughed. "I should introduce you… Kid needs more friends. Just… don't steal him. He's my best bud, you got that? Our bromance will last lifetimes!"

Chat sniggered. "Whatever you say, Nino. I have no doubt it will."

"So, are you gonna go find Ladybug and kick this Akuma's butt?" he asked.

"Nope. I'm not leaving Mari's side."

"Wait, what?" she said in confusion, looking at him sharply. "What do you mean you're not leaving my side? Sh-shouldn't you… look for Ladybug or some way to defeat the Akuma from in here? Or maybe some way out? Or-"

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

"Chat-"

"Mari, you're my friend. I don't want anything to happen to you," he said sincerely. "Akuma be damned. This story is literally a death trap for you. So I am going to stay here and protect you."

There was a heavy silence in the room for a moment, and Marinette could feel her eyes tear up slightly. She felt so much affection for her kitty in that moment, she wanted to launch herself at him and hug him.

"So… how did you two even meet?" Ivan asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, um…"

"Well, we kinda…" The two stuttered as they fumbled for an answer. They both had their meetings as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Marinette and Adrien so ingrained in their mind that it took them a little bit to remember the first time they 'met' as Chat Noir and Marinette.

"Evillustrator, right?" Alya said for them.

"Huh?" Nathanael said, looking about in confusion.

"Yeah, that's right," Chat said. "We met when she helped me fight Evillustrator."

"Wait, what?!" Nathanael exclaimed, aghast. It dawned on Marinette that since he didn't have any memories of his time as an Akuma, he probably didn't even know she'd been there at all.

"Marinette helped you fight an Akuma?!" Kim said, sounding impressed.

Okay, so maybe a lot of people didn't know.

"Yeah, she did," Alya told them all. "Evillustrator showed up and asked Marinette out on a date-"

"It wasn't a date, it was his birthday!" Marinette was quick to correct.

"Right, so Evillustrator showed up and asked her out to a romantic birthday party for two, and not wanting to incur the wrath of the most imaginative Akuma ever, she said yes. Then she got a hold of Ladybug, who was busy at the time and sent Chat Noir to protect her."

"Yep! And she was really good. She managed to get the tainted item off him for a bit, and even got us out of a tight spot. She can really _think outside the box._ "

Marinette groaned, hiding a smile in her hands. "You're terrible!"

"Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry, Marinette! If I had known I-"

"It's okay, Nath, really," she soothed. "Honestly, you were the nicest Akuma I've ever seen. You stuck to your promise of not going after Chloe if I went out with you, and after that, you were more concerned with trying to make the night as wonderful as possible. You didn't even _try_ going for the Miraculous until Chat Noir came into your sight."

"See, I told you it was a date," Alya teased quietly, making Nathanael go bright red.

"Alright, enough. Let's go get this dinner made," Marinette said, trying to stop her best friend from stirring up more trouble. She limped towards the kitchen and looked in the cupboards to see quite a good amount of food stocked in there. This she could definitely work with.

"Ah, what are you doing?" Chat Noir asked her, his tone more reprimanding than curious.

"Making dinner," she stated. "There's some good stuff in here. I was thinking about making bread and soup. It's easy and can easily feed… nine."

"And what about your foot?"

"I can handle it," she told him.

"I told you to rest," Theo reminded her gently. "I can make dinner."

"No, it's fine. I'll do it."

"Typical Mari," Alya sighed, rolling her eyes. She smirked over at Chat. "You've got your work cut out for you, Hero. This girl could be close to death and still work her butt off."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she shot back, grabbing things out of the cupboard.

"I'll help then," Chat said brightly.

Marinette turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you said you couldn't cook."

"I can't. But I'm willing to learn. Come on, you can show me how to cook, and I can grab stuff for you so you don't have to move too much."

"Alright then, deal." She grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "First off I need you to grab me a bowl for the bread. I'll make that and you can do the soup."

Chat nodded and began to move around the kitchen, looking in the cupboards and shelves for what he was asked for. Marinette kept calling for more utensils and ingredients, and a few minutes later she had everything. Next, she directed him to grab the ingredients for the soup, then to go outside and grab a few buckets of water.

As she began to make the bread, Chat Noir lit the fire under the large, cauldron-like pot, then set up beside her to chop the vegetables. He didn't know how to chop or peel most things, but once she explained it to him, he wasn't half bad.

"This is fun," he told her, a relaxed smile gracing his face. "It's kind of soothing."

"Yep. It's one of the reasons I love cooking and baking so much. That, plus it's fun. I can get creative, and I love sharing it with everyone. Watching people enjoy something I've made is one of my favourite things!"

"I wish I could do this more. I'm not even allowed to step into our kitchen. It's usually locked, and when it isn't the Chef is in there. Sometimes he'll be nice and sneak me something if he can get away with it, other times he straight up chucks me out. Trying to sneak cheese for Plagg was a nightmare. But I've hidden a mini fridge in my room. Makes it easier to feed him, and I don't have to explain to anyone why I'm hoarding so much camembert when I don't even _like_ fancy, smelly cheeses! Nope, I'll stick to cheddar, thanks!"

Marinette gasped in mock shock, placing a floury hand to her breast. "Why, Chaton! You don't like fancy cheese?! I thought you were supposed to be a show cat!"

Chat Noir shot her a glare, though he wasn't able to keep the amused smirk off his face. "I think I preferred alley cat," he laughed.

Marinette giggled, but then frowned when she thought of her own Kwami. She still had no idea where Tikki was and it worried her. "...Plagg's your… Kammi, right?" she asked him.

"Kwami," he corrected. "And yeah, he is. He's a greedy, sassy little shit, too."

"Oh, so you're a perfect match!"

He shot her another half-hearted glare. "Please never compare me to my Kwami again," he said, deadpan.

Marinette giggled again. "So, what does he think of all this? Being in a fairytale?"

"I wouldn't know." He shrugged. "I haven't transformed back yet… Which is really weird, because I _have_ used Cataclysm _and_ slept through the… well, day suited up. Usually, I transform back if I fall asleep."

"So… it's almost like… an unnatural transformation. You're stuck as Chat?"

He nodded, a grim expression on his face. "It's a little worrying, but probably for the best. Probably wouldn't be all that good if everyone found out who I was because I decided to have a cat nap."

"That's true," she said, smiling a little.

"Still, it is weird. I wonder if I _can_ change back…" After a moment's thought, he shrugged. "I'll try it out tomorrow."

"Hopefully it works. We need to get out of this soon."

"Don't worry, we will," he said with a certainty that had her blinking in surprise. "Ladybug always gets us out of things like this. And the few times she couldn't, I've managed to find a way out. It will be no problem, just you wait and see."

Marinette said nothing, only forcing a reassuring smile on her face before turning back to the bread. What would her Kitten say when 'his Ladybug' never showed up to help?

.

Dinner was made quickly and efficiently with the two of them working together, and soon nine bowls of soup were laid out on the table, along with a few still warm loaves of bread and some butter that they had found in a cool corner.

It was a very social dinner, with everyone chatting along. A lot of the focus swung to Chat as everyone asked him questions. Alya was near on giving him a full interview, and though she didn't have a pen and paper, Marinette could see her filing all the information away for later. She found it a bit of a relief since the focus was no longer on her. She would say that she felt sorry for Chat Noir, but he looked as if he were loving the attention and getting to know her classmates. He easily deflected anything too personal, and no one bugged or pressed him when he told them so. She felt… father proud of all her friends. Sometimes she just… she got the feeling that her Kitten needed more love. It was nice to see him so happy.

It wasn't long till everyone was sitting there, their stomachs full. But still, the talking continued and talking evolved into games and dares and challenges. It was kind of like one big sleepover… Though it was mostly guys (which was not something her parents allowed often), and there was one adult. Even though Theo said he was only twenty-four and hardly considered himself an adult, he was still the closest thing they had to parental supervision. And no one could deny that he was mothering them.

It was him who eventually called lights out when most people looked too tired to keep their eyes open. Marinette and Chat Noir were still alert as anything, having only woken up that afternoon. And Alya, being used to many late nights writing articles, was still looking pretty good. Still, they all got up and trudged off to their assigned beds. Alya offered to share, and Marinette curled into the small bed with her, cuddling up with her best friend so neither would fall off. Some of the boys offered to share with Chat, but he declined them, instead, gathering cushions from around the cottage and making a small bed out of them. He curled up so much like a cat that the two girls had to stifle their giggles in the blankets.

As was usual with sleepovers, despite the fact they were all trying to sleep, everyone still kept talking to each other in hushed voices. Slowly as the conversations slowed, people began to drop out as they fell asleep and there were a few light snores coming from around the room. And soon there was no one else awake apart from Marinette and Alya. They lay in the small bed, wrapped around each other, almost nose to nose as they talked.

"I think there's at least four or five people snoring right now, girl," Alya whispered. "I kinda hope we don't have to do this for another night. They're worse than my dad!"

Marinette giggled as quietly as she could manage. "Nothing is worse than your dad!"

"I think that it's… Nino. That is definitely Nino. - And Ivan. - I can't tell if that one just then was Max or Kim. Or was it Theo?"

"I think it was Kim."

"Hmm… Not a peep from your cat boy. He's a quiet one."

She grinned, trying to hold back another giggle. "I know. I'm half expecting him to start purring."

"Only if you go pet him, girl."

"Oh my god, Alya!" she hissed.

"Come on, don't play dumb! I saw the two of you. So, what was all that about?"

"All what about?"

"You and Chat Noir!" she urged. "What was up with you two?"

"Um… we were just… talking."

"And since when have you been able to talk to guys?"

She shot Alya a deadpan glare. "I've always been able to talk to guys. You know it's only Adrien that makes me lose control of my tongue."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It's different."

"It it really, though?" Alya said softly.

"O-of course it is," she stuttered, the question throwing her off. "You know why I… and that is so not… I don't-"

"Oh, you so do," Alya said smugly. "It's okay girl. I won't tell. And I'm always here to help."

"It's not like that," she said quietly, almost no conviction to her statement. "Let's just… let's just sleep now, okay?"

"Okay, hun. Night."

"Night." They shuffled a little bit, wrapping their arms around each other, and closed their eyes.

Across the room, a pair of bright green eyes squinted at the opposite wall, the poor confused cat trying to figure out what the girls had been talking about. What was it that was different about him and… well, him? And what was it that made Marinette speechless around him?

He could tell that not long after the girls had drifted off, but these questions kept him up well into the night.

.

.

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* * *

 **Just a note to everyone here on :**

 **I am slowly moving my main writing over to AO3. I tend to post a few days to a week earlier over there.**

 **Honestly, the only reason I still post to anymore is because of all of you wonderful people. just frustrates me so much these days with its complicated system, and lack of formatting and decent tagging system. It's for these reasons that I am working towards moving to AO3 completely.**

 **If you want to follow me there, my pen name is KrazyKyStaHatter. I'd love to see you there!**


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